Game on: Poll reveals our playful side

A SURVEY has confirmed the Irish are a playful race, with 73% of people questioned saying they had played a game within the last week.

The survey of 1,000 people was carried out on behalf of Cadbury’s and found that, while parents believed strongly in the importance of playing games with their children, less than half had actually done so in the past year.

Despite expert advice that game playing is a good stress reliever, particularly in the current economic climate, the survey also found that 30% of respondents said they did not play games more often because they were too busy with family or other commitments, while 56% didn’t have the time to play games.

Play, in the survey, covered everything from computer games and chess to team games and sport. The study shows that computer gaming is increasing yet the majority of people prefer the social interaction of games with a real-life opponent.

The research was carried out on behalf of Cadbury’s as part of its new €15 million Spots v Stripes campaign, which invites everyone to join either of the two sides and play any type of game so as to score points towards an overall team total.

Psychologist David Coleman said the need for play was more marked than ever in these days of recession and cutbacks.

The new campaign is aimed at everyone, including children and parents, and David Coleman said: “The shift that has happened in the last number of years is that the opportunities for play have become very structured and organised. We need to rediscover a sense of spontaneity.”

He also said that some government policies of recent years, such as the individualisation of tax bands, were “anti-family and anti-community”, and a more playful attitude generally shown by everyone would help benefit society.

The survey also shows that men are more competitive than women, with 44% of men saying trying hard to win was important, as opposed to 25% of women. Four out of five men had played a game within the past week, compared with 65% of women.

Cadbury said it hoped its new campaign would help capture the public imagination and allow participants a chance to become engaged with game-playing more regularly.

spotsvstripes.com